Picture a world where good sex is a blessing of the gods, not a cause for guilt, and where acts often considered immoral, even illegal by our standards are instead celebrated. Such a world is no futurist's fantasy but rather the reality of ancient Rome, 100 BC to 250 AD. In "Roman Sex", an illustrated, contextual study of the erotic art of that era, historian John R. Clarke exposes paintings, sculptures and ceramics featuring such controversial subject matter as group sex, lesbianism and the phallus as talisman. He then uses these works to explain ancient Roman attitudes towards a range of societal issues.